Sometimes, when one or both parents work, taking a vacation with the family can be a challenge.
School aged kids with busy schedules make vacation planning even harder, and, often it seems like you just have to get out of town or take time off whenever you can.
But, what if whenever you can coincides with a school day?
Some people may take the kids out of school early to get a head start on a trip. Or, they may even plan the entire vacation during school time, and, take the kids out for a week or more.
I have a friend who plans a Disney vacation each fall because the park isn't as crowded. She takes her children out of school for a week at a time because they can always make up the work later. I don't get it, but, it's only recently that they've quit doing it because the kids are older.
In addition to being disruptive to a classroom, I think it's a bad example to set for children, school is for when it's convenient. Also, I wonder how the older ones ever really catch up in school, even if they take their work with them.
I believe that as long as school is in session (barring any emergency or illness, of course) I believe that children of any age who are in school should be there. Period. We don't skip half days for anything, either.
What about you?
[question posted by emeraldeyes]
responses and comments:
This takes me back to my Childhood days. Mom and dad used to take us on Vacation to a different country - usually Spain or Greece, and so, they used to try and plan for as close to the end of the summer break as they could, so that the heat in Spain or Greece wouldn't be too much for us. If they couldn't book at just the right time to allow us to go back to school when everyone else did, they'd at least book so we only missed a day or two - never more than three days. When we got older, we usually stayed at home and went off on little jaunts around the UK. One of my favorite vacations was one where we spent 2 weeks in a rented Cottage down in Cornwall on the South West Coast of Britain , proof that we didn't need to go to a different country to have fun - AND, we were back in time for the start of School. [retardedrugrat]
Seems like you had a beautiful childhood! Thank you for the comment. [emeraldeyes]
here in the U.K we are allowed to take our kids out of school in term time for 10 days in any one accademic year. Bob and I have a rule with the girls. If the place we are going to visit is academically worth while, for example when we took Eskarena to Egypt to see the valley of the kings, or when we took them to New York, its ok, otherwise it has to be in holiday time. blessed be, it seems to work for us [ESKARENA1]
thank you for the reply,my friend! [emeraldeyes]
I do not work that way. I think school is more important than vacations. Come vaction time, that is the time to devote almost all time for vacation. But for the meantime that it is school days, the priority is school. [everlasting]
I agree!! School comes FIRST!! [zukepr]
Well we adults are all guilty of playing at least a day of Hooky a year. So I give my girls that as well. I mean their own teachers will admit to taking a day off here and there just to relax or catch up on things at home, so why can't our children have that? I give them 2 days out of the school year to stay home, it's is almost always at the end of the year before they choose to use them if at all. By giving them break, I think it keeps them from burning out. Like you said, school puts a lot of pressure on kids now a days. [sunshinecup]
yeap! i definitely agree with you! [emeraldeyes]
I totally agree with you! I wont take my kids out of school just to go on vacation. If we take a vacation we schedule it during one of the school breaks. Usually Spring break or summer vacation. It does set a bad example for kids. It teaches them that school does not need to be taken seriously and that you can blow of your education. Even when my kids are sick I call the school and have the assignments they missed that day sent home so they can stay caught up. I see parents here all the time that dont send their kids to school on half days because they think its a waste of time. Since when is a childs education a waste of time? [zukepr]
We usually do our best to schedule our vacations around the kids' school schedule, but sometimes the school changes dates after we've already made reservations. In that case, we just get the assignments and do the best we can. As a general rule though, we don't pull the kids out for vacations. [tp3144]
I never take my kids out of school time, however saying that i booked a 7 day holiday for myself and my two kids in 3 weeks time, it works out that they will be missing for 5 school days, i seperated from my husband over 3 years ago, and i am the only person who provides for my childen and unfortunately when my kids to get there school vaccation it is my busiess period at work. However before i booked my flight i did go in and speak with my kids headmaster and their teacher to see that there would not be a problem and that the childen would not miss out on any exams, but i have however asked the teacher to give my eldest who's 9 homework to take away with her so she will not fall behind [taramoon]
I personally don't think it's that bad to take a child out of school for a week for a vacation. They can make it up later. I don't think it's teaching them that it's ok to skip school, as long as other days you make sure they always go, unless theyre sick or their is an emergency. I think that kids have it really hard as well, and we don't realize that. They need vacations as well. The only time it's a problem is in High school when there is a ton to make up. [dopey22girl]
The schools do not teach anything in a week that cannot be made up or caught up with. They seem to be studying for the proficiency tests most of the time anyway. Family vacations and events are important and it should be encouraged. We homeschool so that is never really an issue since we bascially school year round and can take time when we need to for sickness, vacation, whatever. Not alot of people do it so it is not something that is a danger for anyone. [Willowlady]
I see no problem with this as long as it is not for an extended amount of time. Having your kids miss a couple days of school because of vacation is ok. I of course would check with their teacher first to be sure there were no tests, State exams, etc. Get the work they would do in class and make time to have my child complete this. Sometimes at work parents cannot take the time off the kids get off due to several reasons.. so they have to plan what is next best. I personally have been lucky and gotten time off when my daughter does-- but I see nothing wrong with parents who cant taking their kids out of school. [KrisNY]
I have never liked taking kids out of school unless necessary but there are times you have no choice such as doctor or dentist appointments. Having raised 4 children I can only think of one time when I took one out of school for a "vacation" and it wasn't really that. #2 son was getting married in another state and I took my youngest out of school for 2 days so we could attend the wedding. [byfaithonly]
If it were my family I would do it. As long as the kids kept their grades up and I knew they wouldn't have trouble catching up. I missed 3 weeks of school when I was in 10 grade (I was sick) but I caught up very quickly. I had all the homework I missed done when I went back to school. My brother, on the other hand, would have failed the year if he had missed that much. If he missed more then one day he would get so far behind he couldn't catch up. School is important but family time is equally important, if you ask me. Children learn every day, even when they are not in school. My daughter missed a few days last year in Kindergarten because we decided it would be better if she spent some time with her dad (who was usually working). He happened to have a day off and it was also nice those days so we went to a park to have some family time. I think she missed 8 days last year (2 because she was sick, 4 for the weather and 2 for family days). This year she has missed 4 (only one of those was because she was sick). [4monsters4me]
I never kept the children from school to go on vacation but my daughter did it on a couple of occasions. I was quite mad at her, as I felt it wasn't fair to the children to have them missing out on their education. I never interfere in her married life, but I felt I had to say something. I told her I disapproved of her keeping the children from school, so she accecpted my reprimand with good grace and hasn't done it since. I think there may be a law here in Ireland now, or they are trying to introduce one, to stop parents from doing this in the future. [Alexandria37]
If you want to take a vacation during the school year i dont see the problem. Unless the kid is in college, the school will consider this and allow extra time to make up work and tests. I dont think that it sets a bad example at all. [jlutzko]
I don't agree. If your kids have always attended school and didn't spend months at home for a reason or wnother (see: stupid reasons) I don't see why they shouldn't be taken on vacation even If school is still going. My mom used to do the same when I was a kid and I remember those days dearly. She'd bring us to school and then drive past the school while we'd scream in joy because of the surprise she made us. This happened once every few months and it was great, because we'd then go and have breakfast together :) [nageki]
My parent did that sometimes. I think it's fine as long you don't do it every month or something and your kids are doing good in school. Trips are a great bribe sometimes; my friends sometimes bribe their kids with attending the next disability rights action in though it means missing four days of school. I will probably to do that with my kids as because I think community service and building community are just as important as what you can learn in any traditional school book, maybe more so. [cripfemme]
I think kids should be at school all the time whenever there are school days. That's why we have June, July and August for vacations. I sometimes (rarely) take out my kid for a dentist or doctor's appointment, but that's about 1/2 hour early release. [mimatexas]
When I was in school, absences due to being taken out for vacation were excused as long as you could convince the administration that the vacation would be just as educational as the time spent at school (and pre-planned well in advance), and you needed to get all the assignments you would be missing from your teachers and hand them in when you got back. It was very rare that I ever came across anyone who did this. The only time I was in that position was when we had a hurricane and they added a make-up day on the day before Thanksgiving. I was excused because I had holiday plans long before the hurricane (I don't think that excuse would be have been vaid if had it not been a national holiday though). [skydancer]
I now homeschool all 4 of my children so not an issue anymore. I did, however, take them out for a vacation if need be. It did not happen every year but it has several times over the years. I feel it is the parents decision even though every parent doesn't do things wisely. [jmgrizza]
I don't have kids, so I don't really know. But taking out school early is not a solution. [JulieSkyRock]
I always plan any vacation around the kids schooling. I find it just as easy to do it in the summertime when they are off. Nowadays they are off so much that I don't find it hard to do in the least. There is always spring break, Christmas break or the four or five long weekends that they get every year. So I really don't feel the need to pull them out of school for a family vacation. [tater03]
I don't go on vacations often as it costs to much. But your friend doesn't do it with the older kids. The work can be made up. I was a teachers aide for a few years I know this is possible. My brother is still a teacher. My daughter will be going to NY with me for spring break. We will be leaving a day before the actual day off . This was due to the cost of the ticket. The last 3 days of school she never attends. she is in a very bad school district. These are the worst days to attend. [giftsandbagscom]
Well I know we have done this in the past for a variety of reasons. The main one being that school breaks are peak time for vacations for others and unless you have seniority at work it can be almost impossible to get that time off. We have to take our days off at other times when school is in session. However when we have done this we make sure my neice knows she has to make up the work, that it then limits her sick days for school as well. We also try to work in some educational information while during the trip so that they are still learning. We made sure she knew it was a special treat for this and it also didn't happen every year. It was only when we had money for a vacation which trust me wasn't always. [emeraldisle]
It is actually not allowed where my girls go to school. If you are gone for more than like 3 days without a dr. note or family emergency you lose your spot in the classroom. This is a public school that goes year round due to over crowding. Unless my girls are sick, they are in school. [crystal8577]
I think it really depends on the kind of trip. I was taken out of school a lot for traveling. Some of it was for family illness, such as a month of school I missed in fourth grade because we spent it away with my dying great-grandfather and the rest of the family. Some of it was other vacations. In sixth I spent two weeks in Poland going back with my parents and grandparents and learning the childhood of my grandfather from him, something he had never talked about before and really much since. I took two weeks off in eighth grade to go to Paris. It was the most convenient time to go because my mom was going for work. I learned more on that trip than sitting in a classroom for weeks. I have to say that is mostly my grandmother's style of letting my cousin (18 months younger than I) and me plan the touring and planning the metro routes even after we made the mistake of getting on the wrong train and spent a day riding all over the suburbs before finding our way to our destination and deciding that we now had to get back on and get back to hotel. I think the time my parents took me out of school was beneficial and it is really how I learned. In fact for high school I dropped out of traditional school and was homeschooled mostly be traveling with my mom to where she went on travel for work. As for Disney, that would not exactly be my consideration of a trip worth taking the kids out of school. [kjscrafts]
this is a good thing Taking kids out of school early for vacation. when i was a child i always wish for vacations earliear, vacations are a heaven for childerns that they like most but studies are also important for them [manmaxman]
we never got to do this because since my parents had 4 kids, money was too tight to go on many vacations. When i got into high school i allowed myself 5 days to miss each semeter. I called them my burnout prevention days! I knew that they allowed a certain number of days and if you went over that you had to take end of year exams. I pretty much made straight A's and if you made good grades and had good attendance you did not have to take exams. So i had my personal days off. :D As for doing it with my kid..i dont think i owuld take her out for a week! Maybe 1 day, like a Friday if I had to! [elizabeth525]
I think it's disruptive to a class. Also, here, there is a minimum number of days your child needs to be in school to pass the grade. What if your child later gets an ear infection, or some other illness that pulls them out of school for a month? Anyway, children need to get used to a set rhythm of school, and need to be given consistent messages, not: school is the most important thing. Oh, and by the way, you're going to miss a week of it in the middle to go on vacation. I'd probably have my kids miss school if it was to travel to a family reunion, or some other once in a lifetime, uncontrolled by me, event. [cutepenguin]
i like your discussion n your plan for vacation with friend n same my plan for my children [anto2006]
for holiday with family and children go to hawaii for vacation [anto2006]
Oh yes ,, you mean helping kids in bunking school for your cause ,,not a bad idea will it going to help to whom [globetrotter_27]
I think it is good [msqtech]
If they havent missed to much it shouldnt be a problem just work with the school and dont miss exams [msqtech]
The Trace, the Trace! said Mad-Eye impatiently. The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. [jonny_paldano]